tick down

present singular third person ticks down · participle present ticking down · participle past ticked down · past ticked down

1. To count the time down to zero.

   1 more example

   City, predictably, subjected Villa to a sustained spell of pressure as the clock ticked down - and the home team hada [sic] double escape with eight minutes left. De Jong's shot was unwittingly deflected on to his own post by Clark and then Dzeko headed Johnson's cross wide at the far post when he should have restored equality.

   2011 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Man City”, in BBC